short books you can actually read in a day

a few short book recommendations

Reaching the end of a chunky, long book can be one of the most satisfying experiences we get in this life. If you enjoyed the book, that is. If you slogged your way through it, the feeling you get is more akin to relief, or resentment. But sometimes you don’t have time to read absolute tomes like War and Peace - you need something shorter.

I am fully behind slower, more intentional reading (it’s one of my reading goals for the year) but sometimes you just need a quick, short read. Especially if you’re in a slump, or want to get back into the habit of reading again. Writing a short book that has just as much depth and craft as a novel three times its size is a very admirable skill. It takes a lot of talent to be able to fit a rich story into so few pages, and I have a lot of admiration for authors who are able to do it. So here are a few books that do just that — and that you can finish in a day.

Small Things Like These - Claire Keegan

In 1985, coal merchant Bill Furlong uncovers disturbing secrets in a small Irish town that's controlled by the Roman Catholic Church.

Hunchback - Saou Ichikawa (trans. by Polly Barton)

Follows Shaka, a severely disabled woman living in a care home who writes erotic stories online to express her desires, anger, and existential frustrations.

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Set in the summer of 1922 on prosperous Long Island, The Great Gatsby follows the enigmatic Jay Gatsby as he pursues his obsessive love for the beautiful but unattainable Daisy Buchanan.

Another Marvelous Thing - Laurie Colwin

The story of a whirlwind love affair of two people who are happily married (just not to each other) from its inception to its inevitable end.

Small Boat - Vincent Delecroix (trans. by Helen Stevenson)

Inspired by the real-life November 2021 English Channel disaster, in which 27 migrants drowned, Small Boat follows a French radio operator who took the distress calls from the sinking dinghy and is now facing accusations of negligence

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson

Dr Jekyll has discovered the ultimate drug. A chemical that can turn him into something else. Suddenly, he can unleash his deepest cruelties in the guise of the sinister Hyde. Transforming himself at will, he roams the streets of fog-bound London as his monstrous alter-ego. It seems he is master of his fate. It seems he is in complete control. But soon he will discover that his double life comes at a hideous price

Until August - Gabriel García Márquez (trans. by Anne McLean)

A slender novella following Ana Magdalena Bach, a middle-aged married woman who, every August, travels to an unnamed Caribbean island to visit her mother’s grave and have a one-night stand.

Assembly - Natasha Brown

The narrator of Assembly is a Black British woman. She is preparing to attend a lavish garden party at her boyfriend's family estate, set deep in the English countryside. At the same time, she is considering the carefully assembled pieces of herself. As the minutes tick down and the future beckons, she can't escape the question: is it time to take it all apart?

Boulder - Eva Baltasar (trans. by Julia Sanches)

A woman (nicknamed ‘Boulder’) who works as a cook on a merchant ship becomes deeply involved with Samsa, a woman who decides she wants to have a child at 40. Boulder is less enthused but doesn’t know how to say no - and so finds herself dragged along on a journey that feels as thankless as it is alien.

This is Pleasure - Mary Gaitskill

Following the unravelling of the life of a male publisher undone by allegations of sexual impropriety and harassment, and the female friend who tries to understand, and explain, his actions

The Lost Daughter - Elena Ferrante

A middle-aged woman's seaside vacation goes awry because of her fixation on a mother-daughter duo in a nearby villa, which awakens some of her dark memories from the past.